Twin Terror Luke Ryo
by Geia Akyama
Summary: Follow Luke Ryo, OP-1, as he finds his way through the world as the only criminal Avian American. As one of three survivors of The Outbound Project he may very well be the key to helping the Flock save the world. If Emy doesn't kill him first that is...
1. Initiation

A Maximum Ride multi crossover fanfic  
Twin Terror Luke Ryo written by Geia  
Chapter 1-Initiation

--

You know, it's kinda funny how life decides to kick you in the ass. Sometimes you're born blind, sometimes you get AIDS, sometimes you are killed in a freak accident and these things are considered normal in everyday life. Oh, and by normal I don't mean totally expected but these are normal problems.

Me? I use to have these normal problems. I dealt with bullies, girls, and my twin brother who everyone loved, you know. Normal school problems. That was until I turned eight and started setting things on fire without realizing it. Nathan had it easy until he turned eleven, that's when he got his wings and the Institute took an interest in both of us. Back then I didn't have an obvious problem like Nate. Just the fire and that was only obvious when I got mad, go figure!

Oh, how rude. Didn't even introduce myself before stealing your attention, par for the course. My name is Luke Ryo, thirteen and working for the Brotherhood of Evil. And as I found out recently I'm a part of The Angel Experiment. I think me and Nathan are the only ones with wings, unless you count the Thanagerian Hawkgirl who hangs out with Superman and the rest of the Justice League but she ain't human is she? Didn't think so.

The Angel Experiment, sounds religious huh? Well let me pop that little bubble before it gets too much bigger. DEAD WRONG! "To better the quality of life." that's the logo that BioTech hides behind. They look like a normal health clinic but looks are deceiving. My mother went there to have kids 'cuz her doctor said they could help her. She practically sold her self, Nathan and I to him. Some mother huh? But I guess she wasn't so bad, she did try to keep us safe from Yaker once she found out she'd been duped.

Ex-Admiral William Yaker, Satan reincarnated family doctor and Angel Experiment sponsor. Everything that went wrong in my life is his fault. If he hadn't messed with my genes...

Heh. You know. Maybe I should start from the beginning? Yeah that's a good idea. I'm not a story-teller but you had best listen and listen good 'cuz I'm not going to repeat myself. This whole thing got started before I was born and it just got worse from there.


	2. Sorrow of Lost Dreams

A Maximum Ride multi crossover fanfic  
Twin Terror Luke Ryo written by Geia  
Chapter 2-Sorrow of Lost Dreams

--

A young woman with long, silky reddish-brown hair and startlingly blue eyes was sitting in front of a large desk made to look like it was constructed from honest to God oak wood. Her hair was matted against her skull from the rain and partially obscured her face. Her navy blue evening gown was rumpled and creased and the purse that had once looked brand new was horribly scuffed and looked like it had been in a fight with a lawn mower and lost more than one round. A pair of strappy, navy blue, two inch high heels were on the floor next to the ruined purse.

The woman's face was covered in tears and the blood of her husband. They had been at a party and were on their way to Niagara Falls to celebrate their honeymoon when their little car had been hit by a drunk driver. The drunk had nailed the side of the newlyweds little four door sedan and both vehicles had then been hit by a passing Sparklets truck. The DUI driver was pronounced dead at the scene but for Mr. and Mrs. Ryo the news was bittersweet.

--

One more drunken asshole off the road, one more innocent person hurt. Society sucks as a whole and it ain't about to change.

--

"Mrs. Ryo, please calm down. I'm sorry to announce that while you survived relatively unharmed your husband wasn't so lucky..."

A young female doctor with curly brown hair, mocha colored skin and emerald green eyes handed the distraught woman in front of her another tissue. She put the little pack of Kleenex back in a pocket of the pair of blue scrubs she was wearing. The young woman sitting at the desk was looking over the case file for a Mr. Barry Ryo. The name tag on her left pocket read "Doctor Sarah M. Turner".

"Mrs. Ryo? Please bear with me. Your husband suffered major wounds to his chest, lungs and left arm as a result of the accident. While he is not yet dead he is now in a coma. I wouldn't give him more than a week left to live, even with the help of life support."

Mrs. Ryo wailed and wrung the soggy tissue between her hands and shredding it at the same time. This was their honeymoon! This was suppose to be a relaxing drive through Illinois and then to the Falls. They'd made reservations, planned out their meals, everything! Then this had to happen! Why? Why!

Mrs. Ryo looked at her little wedding ring. It was made of gold wrought into the shape of a rose with a little diamond set in the center. It was only a week ago that she'd married the man who had made her so happy. For two long years they'd been dating and talking about marriage. For two years she, Leyane Shwartz, No, Leyane Ryo, had began falling in love. For two years she'd been growing comfortable with bearing a promising young attorney's children and all those dreams were destroyed in an instant.

Leyane looked up at the young doctor, her eyes red and puffy from crying and nearly constant dabbing. The next words that came from her mouth were strangled and full of desperation.

"Isn't there something you can do? Isn't there somewhere I can go to fix this? Barry... He is my life... If he's gone I don't know what I'd do... Before we got married... He told me he had cancer and that he'd been in remission for three years... We talked about having children and raising them in Montana where they would be surrounded by nature and life, away from the pollution of the big cities..."

Leyane turned her bleary gaze on Dr. Turner.

"Please! Please I'll do anything! I'll go anywhere; just let me bear his child... Let me have this one shred of hope of keeping some part of my husband alive... Please, please..."

Leyane dissolved into tears and buried her face in her hands to muffle her howls of rage and sadness over the whole situation.

Doctor Turner walked around the desk and locked the door and unplugged the security camera while the near widow quieted her sobs. Sarah took her seat at the desk and quietly folded her hands and stared at the wood grains under her fingers while contemplating her next words.

"There is a way for you to get your wish Mrs. Ryo..." The doctor watched Leyane closely and waited for her to take the bait. Leyanes' head snapped up and the blood shot eyes fixed on the younger woman's face with hope filled eyes.

"There is a clinic not far from here that specializes in artificial insemination. They might be able to help you. Don't worry it's nothing like you think. The clinic is a division of BioTech Institute for Living Science and they're completely humane." Sarah opened a drawer and shuffled through it until she found a pad of paper and a pen and began writing down the address of the clinic in question.

"Ask for Doctor Yaker and tell him what you told me about your husband. I've known Bill Yaker for some time; he has a big heart, believe me. He'll help you have your child." Sarah looked at a plain silver watch on her left wrist.

"If you'll wait for a few minutes my shift will be over and I can take you there myself."

Leyane smiled briefly and took one of Sarah's hands.

"Bless you! You've given me some hope. God Bless you!"


	3. The Nightmare Begins

A Maximum Ride multi crossover fanfic  
Twin Terror Luke Ryo written by Geia  
Chapter 3-The Nightmare Begins

--

Thirty minutes later, Sarah and Leyane were in a cab on their way to the BioTech Institute. Both women had changed their clothes and were now looking out the car windows at the rain soaked streets. Rain streaked down the windows making it hard to see anything clearly. It was really easy to tell good drivers from bad drivers at this point, the good ones were slowing down on the slick roads and the bad ones were painfully close to hydroplaning. Leyane winced and looked at the cab driver. He was a tall lanky man with dark skin and the beginnings of an afro.

"Do you really think this Doctor Yaker will help me?"

Sarah smiled and adjusted her yellow raincoat.

"Yes. Bill has helped many devastated families already and his work has been recognized in many Medical circles thanks to BioTech's ability to spot potentially curable birth defects. Many times parents become distraught about a seeming weakness in their children but there is none of that there. I assure you that your child will be strong and healthy."

Leyane smiled weakly and looked out the window. A plain white building was coming into view. That must be the Biotech Institute. It was a five story building that had that typical Hospital feel to it. The lawns were well manicured and the flowers around the walkways were in good health. All in all this seamed like a safe place.

Once the cab stopped both at the entrance for the clinic both women stepped out and watched as the cab driver collected his fare and sped off. The rain fell on their rain coats and chilled them to the bone. It was a dark and dreary night that echoed Leyane's feelings perfectly. Lightning flashed and thunder rumbled in the distance like a snoring giant as Leyane stepped through the automatic doors in into the building.

The receptionist was an older woman with gray hair and overdone makeup looked up from her computer screen.

"Hello and welcome to the BioTech Institute for Living Science. How can we help you today?" The woman sounded like she had said those very words a hundred times. Her voice was flat and did little to make you feel welcomed, to be sure, her voice made the hair on the back of your neck stand on end.

Leyane's breath was coming in short, quick gasps. She was here; she was really going through with this. She was going to have a child by her husband and he'd never know. What would her family think? Should she tell them? Would they care? But there was no other way. She wanted to keep some small part of her husband with her always and memories have a tendency of fading.

"I, I'd like to see Doctor Yaker please..."

There! She'd said it! There was no going back now. Unless...

The receptionist taped a few keys on her keyboard and glanced at her screen. For what felt like an eternity, Leyane held her breath, not daring to hope. Wishing that he was here, praying to God that he would help her. Her heart nearly jumped into her throat when the receptionist, Marguerite judging from her name tag, picked up a phone, dialed an extension, and spoke briefly into the receiver.

"He'll be with you in a moment. Please wait in the room right there."

Sarah gently took Leyane by the shoulders and guided her to the waiting room off to the side. The chairs were made from hard black plastic with plastic cushions with a pattern on them that looked more at home on a Motel 6 curtain. The carpet was worn and splotched with enough colors to make a blind man cry. Off in a corner was a small table littered with Lego's, cars, crayons and coloring books, toys for children.

Leyane sat down on the edge of a creaking chair and clasped her hands in her lap. She didn't know how long she would have to wait. Her heart was pounding so loudly it sounded like a powerful wind was singing in her ears. It was so quiet, aside from the rain, that Leyane nearly jumped out of her skin when a barrel-chested man with sun-tanned skin, dark brown eyes, and black hair peppered with gray cleared his throat from the doorway.

Leyane leaped to her feet and faced the stranger. He had a kind look to him and what she had mistaken as being tubby was actually muscle. Upon closer inspection this man also seemed to have a military air to him. She couldn't put her finger on it but something about the way this man stood brought to mind the armed forces...

Sarah stood up and walked over to him with her arms outstretched.

"Bill! It's been a long time! You look well. Retirement seems to suit you"

Ah, so this must the Doctor William Yaker...

The two doctors embraced like friends and smiled. Yaker seemed old enough to be Sarah's father but nonetheless they were casual friends. It was really quite amazing to see, Leyane thought.

"Now Sarah. You know I'd rather be back in the Marines. The pay wasn't so great but the benefits were superb. Oh hello!"

The two friends disengaged and turned towards Leyane.

"Bill. This is the woman I told you about over the phone. This is Leyane Ryo."

Leyane stepped forward and took Doctor Yakers extended hand. His palms were calloused and felt rough on her smooth skin and his grip was quite firm.

"I'm Doctor William Yaker. I was so sorry to hear about your loss but I do believe I can help you. No, come now dear don't cry. Come. Let's sit down here. That's a good girl."

Leyane dissolved into tears at the thought of her husband laying immobile in a hospital room with tubes and wires going in and out of his body. She could see his handsome face covered in bandages and bruises from the crash. The sight would haunt her for the rest of her life, she was sure.

She allowed herself to be led by William and sat down in a different chair than the one she had been in just moments before. She sat trembling and hating herself for it but was unable to stop. Waves and waves of sorrow, anger, rage and sadness washed over her like waves on a rocky beach.

William pulled a chair away from the wall and dragged it in front of the grieving woman. Crying had some healing effects, it was best to let her cry herself out before going on. He eased himself into the chair with a groan and nodded slightly when Sarah took a seat near Leyane.

Once her shoulders stopped shaking and her breathing had returned to normal, Leyane looked Yaker in the eyes.

"You know what I want? I'll do anything to have his child, anything. I'll pay whatever you want. I, I may not be rich but I'll get as may jobs as it takes to cover the bill. I just want this nightmare to be over... I, I..."

Tears threatened to overcome Leyane again. Her head tilted listlessly to the side and tears began to flow down her cheeks for what felt like the hundredth time that night. She felt a gentle pressure on her hand. It was William Yaker.

"Please. For now let's just concentrate on getting you your child." He looked at Sarah.

"I'll need the appropriate genetic samples from her husband. Leyane? I'll need your cooperation. For this to be a success we need to harvest some fertilized eggs. Depending on your cycle this will take a month at most. Early tests will show us if you'll be getting strong healthy children. Yes you heard me right, children. Your story is truly tragic and I want to do everything I can to help you through it. Ah! There you see? It's not so bad. It's so good to see you smile. Now I'll write up the papers to make this legal. Why don't you wait outside I believe that there's a cab coming up the driveway now. Yes that's a good girl."

William smiled down at Leyane and guided her towards the front door. After watching that she had gotten into the waiting cab and that it had sped off he turned to Sarah with a very different expression on his face.

"Do you realize what this means? Do you know what this means for the Institute? What a wonderfully naive woman! Thanks to her little fit of despair we're going to be getting our hands on some more specimens and you won't have to jeopardize your position at Saint Judes! You brilliant, brilliant girl!"

He took Sarah by the arms and shook her gently.

"The Angel Experiment will go as planned! And with luck the Outbound Project will gain popularity with the higher-ups!"

William let Sarah go, who was reeling from the sudden change in her old friend, and rubbed his hands together.

"Soon, soon I'll be top dog. And dear little Leyane and her children are going to help me get there..."


	4. Tears of the Devil

A Maximum Ride multi crossover fanfic  
Twin Terror Luke Ryo written by Geia  
Chapter 4-Tears of the Devil

--

Nice little history lesson huh? How Do I know all this stuff that happened from before I was born? Well let's just say that I'm something of a hacker and there's a secret facility in Death Valley, California with my name all over it. Shit, did it again! Sorry, getting ahead of myself there. Back to the story...

--

The next few days flew like birds in the winter for Leyane. Licensed doctors from BioTech had arrived at Saint Judes Hospital posing as her relatives and somehow collected semen from her comatose husband. The nurses had been herded out of the room and Leyane herself watched the door to make sure that no one entered the room until Sarah and a doctor from BioTech had finished their work.

She looked over her shoulder. Sarah had just put the heavily starched sheet back over her husband and smoothed out the wrinkles. There was a vial of some kind of creamy white fluid in the palm of her right hand.

"We're all done here. I'll just sign out, Leyane, and then we'll go see Bill with the latest news about your husband"

By news she meant that they had successfully gathered what was needed to bring Leyanes' Prayers to life. The intern that had helped them was from what was then known as the Institute of Living Science. He was wearing faded camouflage pants and a tan shirt that was stretched tightly over the bulging muscles of his chest and arms. His red hair and blue eyes added credibly of his supposedly related to Leyane.

"Come on Anne. We have to go tell Mom about this."

He put a sympathetic look on his face and draped an arm across her small shoulders. Today she had chosen to wear a loose fitting black sweater and sweatpants over a baby blue shirt and brown leather Timberland work boots covered with dirt and grass clippings. She walked out of the room with her 'brother' and went through her part; mourning widow being comforted by concerned family.

The party of three walked out of the hospital like nothing had happened and stood in one of the shaded areas in the courtyard to wait for their ride to show up. The sun was shining brightly after the storm had blown itself out the night before and the air had that crisp, clean smell to it like you'd find in the mountains. The sky was bright blue with a few fleecy white clouds scuttling past at a barely noticeable speed.

Leyane, Sarah and Tex were waiting for their ride to show up. Leyane would have driven but her car had been totaled in the accident and Sarah and Tex, as Leyane called him, proudly proclaimed faith in the public transportation system.

Cars, trucks, vans and ambulances came and left the hospital parking lot in a regular fashion picking up and dropping off patients and doctors. Looking at the whole scene you could hardly believe that darkness loomed on the horizon, a darkness that would make Satan himself giggle with glee.

A nondescript steel gray truck sped up the driveway and stopped in front of their little group. The driver looked like a teenager with a shock of blond, almost white hair and hazel eyes. He threw open the driver side door, nearly missing a passing car, and hopped out. There was a long white scar that went from his left ear and all the way down to his chin. Except for that scar the best word that described this kid was forgettable. This boy could have walked into Yankee Stadium covered with guns; ammunition and a trench coat and still not be noticed Leyane thought.

The kid hurried around the truck and skidded to a stop in front of Sarah. His clothes were faded and slashed, could it be that this kid was a member of a gang?

"You the ones that old fart wants me to pick up? Uh, Leyane something?"

Leyanes impression of this individual dropped a few notches. He sounded uneducated and his manners were horrid! The 'old fart' must have been William Yaker and how hard was it to remember a last name with only three letters? She set her mouth in a firm line and bit back a sharp retort. As a teacher and a good Roman Catholic manners and proper grammar were important.

"Yes. I am Leyane Ryo and Doctor Yaker said he'd send someone to pick us up." She put special emphasis on her own name and Doctor Yakers name. This boy had no respect for his elders judging from the way he rolled his eyes at her for correcting him.

"Just get in. Time is money. The longer this takes the less I'm paid."

Leyane was floored by the sheer disrespect he'd thrown at her. Behind her, Tex cracked his knuckles and cleared his throat. The youth's eyes widened as he took in Tex's bulk and his face got even paler.

"Uh, I mean. Come on, we're going to be late." A moment's pause. "My name's Skat."

He scurried to the truck and threw the doors open. Leyane reluctantly climbed in behind the drivers' seat as Skat held the door open for her. Sarah climbed in after and pulled the front passenger seat back and in its' proper position so that Tex could have enough room for his legs up front. The cab smelled of dirty clothes, Armorall, greasy fast food, and something sharp and unpleasant that made Leyane's nose wrinkle in disgust. Their driver got inside and checked that everyone had their seat belts on before pealing out and barreling down the road with sickening lurches and bumps.

Her knees were shoved against the hard plastic on the back of the drivers' seat and her seat belt cut into her flesh every time Skat slammed on the brakes at a red light or to avoid crashing into another vehicle. They turned a corner and Leyane swore that one or more tires had left the pavement. She clutched the back of Skat's seat with a death grip as Sarah was thrown against her shoulder.

"Take it easy or I won't pay you at all!"

As you can guess the threat of getting nothing out of this job greatly improved Skat's driving. In what felt like a short eternity, or perhaps a long minute, they arrived at the Institute. Tex opened his door and practically lurched outside into the fresh air. Sarah stomped on the foot pedal that let the passengers in the back seat out and followed Tex's example with Leyane not a second behind. Sarah tossed a wad of money at Skat and the kid sped off in what must be his normal driving style.

They walked through the front door and past the receptionist who was much younger and less unnerving than the older woman from a few days ago. Tex peeled off and walked into an employee's only door, probability to get back into uniform and restart his shift. The halls twisted and turned around Leyane and Sarah while both women set off for Yaker's office. The smell of disinfectant permeated the halls and the bright lights made Leyane partially close her eyes. That was one of the problems with having blue eyes; it didn't take much to make you squint.

When they finally found Yaker, he wasn't in his office or in the lunch room, Sarah told him about their success in Saint Judes and the nail-biting ride soon thereafter. Yaker took the vial from Sarah and went to a sealed off room to 'verify that the sample hadn't been damaged' by the hair rising ride.

Things really picked up for Leyane after that, one week later Barry Ryo died.

Over the next two weeks Leyane threw herself into the task of scratching one shred of hope from this tragedy. She wouldn't pretend to understand what the various appointments were for, nor did she seem to mind when she was called in to have some eggs from her ovaries harvested. To her, this was all like some dream where the ground was far below her and her mind was racing with the clouds.

--

In a sealed lab in BioTech Institute Scientists were going over the embryos that had been created from the genetic material collected from Barry and Leyane Ryo. Each sample was being injected with the DNA of various animals ranging from dogs and cats to polar bears and lions.

Off in a corner Yaker was cooing over a sample of his own. Many months ago he'd been promised a winged specimen from the Death Valley facility and so far that promise had fallen through like a ton of bricks through tissue paper. Well that was about to change!

He hummed happily to himself as he selected the DNA of three different species of birds. With the DNA of a white dove his specimen would move gracefully through the air, with the maneuverability of a hummingbird it would be able to move with precision and purpose, and with the ferocity of the crow it would be a fighter. All in all a nice combination with the projected results of a strong, and highly agile being able to help train the newest batches of Erasers.

He smiled cruelly as he injected the bird concoction into the nucleus of the developing embryo. Only time would tell if it would survive, although he had a very good feeling that it would. Then he'd call in that charmingly naive woman Leyane to make it come to term. That's what the Outbound Project was about, implanting altered embryos into healthy human mothers and letting them come to term. From there it all depended on separating the child from the parent.

--

Almost two months had passed since that fateful accident and Leyane was rushing to the Institute. Bill had just called her with the best news she'd had since entering Chicago city limits: they were ready to proceed with the insemination.

The world seemed to glow and even the dark clouds overhead seemed to only half-heartedly want to empty their contents on the city below. Leyane put on her best dress complete with matching shoes, purse and earrings and hurried out the door with an umbrella swinging from her wrist. To day was the day! The day she'd been waiting for ever since she gotten married! Today she would enter the world of all pregnant women, the wonderful world of motherhood.


	5. Nearing the Twilight

A Maximum Ride multi crossover fanfic  
Twin Terror Luke Ryo written by Geia  
Chapter 5-Nearing the Twilight

--

Leyane swallowed heavily. She was laying on a cushioned hospital bed in a darkened room of Saint Judes Hospital. Today she was getting to have ultrasound to see how her kid was developing and what gender it was, if possible. Before hand they'd had her drink what felt like a gallon of water and it had gone straight to her bladder, the worst part was that if she peed they'd have to start all over. Because she was at Saint Judes her new friend, Doctor Sarah Turner, was personally taking care of her. Sarah smeared a thick gel over her swollen belly, and again she couldn't relieve herself.

Her new found friend Sarah gently pushed the sound head that was shaped like a squash against Leyane's belly and looked intently at a small screen before her. The screen could easily be swiveled to let the patient see as well but for now there was no need.

Ever since the accident Leyane had been living in Sarah's two bedroom apartment and the two had become great friends. Leyane helped pay the rent other chores while Sarah was away and in return Sarah cooked meals and helped Leyane eat the correct foods that would help the fetus develop properly, that meant lots of fish apparently.

Leyane clutched the flimsy green hospital gown as Sarah pressed the business end of the thing more firmly into her abdomen.

"See anything yet? If this goes on to much longer I think I might make a mess of the bed."

Sarah smiled. There was plenty to see. Ah, there! On the monitor before her a pulsing blob hovered into view. To the untrained eye this was just that, a pulsing blob about the size of a nickel. To a trained professional it was the beating of a young heart. A young life being created. She shifted her hand slightly to the right and saw a second pulsation split from the first. There were two hearts beating.

"Well?"

Leyane sounded strained and tired. The news that she was having twins would probability cheer her up greatly, she'd been so worried about having her children die before she ever saw them. Sarah moved her hand to the left to hide the second heart and moved the screen so that Leyane could see it with a mirror she had been holding for just this moment.

"Get the screen in your view." Sarah waited as Leyane held the mirror in front of her face and tilted it slightly to bring the Ultra-sound monitor into view.

"See this pulsing here? That's a heart, and a strong one at that."

"Boy or a girl?" Leyane was fascinated. That small, pulsing orb was a heart. A little heart within her body...

"Slow down there Leyane! Now..." Sarah shifted her hand to the right again. A pleased gasp from her pregnant friend let her know that Leyane had come to the same conclusion.

"Two! Two heartbeats! Twins! I'm having twins!" Leyanes face glowed with barely suppress joy and pride. It had never occurred to her that she'd be doubly blessed

"What's that?"

One of the two little hearts moved up slightly and a small finger shaped projection swam into view. It looked like a finger but where was the little hand to go with it? Wait a moment. That wasn't a finger that was a...!

"That would be the answer to your gender question. You're going to have a pair of boys."

A look mixed disgust and fascination crossed her face. Some how Leyane had known that her first born child would be male but she'd never considered how the doctors would go about confirming it. Sure she was happy to know that she was going to be having sons but to find out that way...

Sarah turned of the machine and used a clean cloth to wipe the gel from the scanner.

"There. We're done, Leyane. Not as bad as you thought huh?" Sarah smiled and pushed a button on the remote next to her that turned the florescent lights on.

"I'll get your clothes and make a copy of this on a VHS for you. Most mothers enjoy showing their friends and family the very first footage of their children. Even if it is in a grainy black-and-white medium."

Sarah quickly packed the Ultrasound monitor and walked out of the room so Leyane could get up with dignity and without having to worry about someone gawking at her awkwardness.

Leyane sat up slowly with a groan and got to her feet. Her face twisted with discomfort as the ice cold linoleum of the floor made her toes curl. There was a bathroom opposite the door to the main hall with a small toilet, sink, trash can and a few clean gars for expectant mothers to use after their examinations.

She pulled the stopper for the sink up and filled it with water before dunking one of the rags, the largest of the three available, and set her self to the task of wiping the gel from her skin. It was warm and slimy to the touch and reminded her of Vaseline in its consistency. It took a grand total of five minutes for her to get clean but nonetheless worth the effort.

She stepped out of the bathroom to find that her clothes had been set on the end of the bed. A plain yellow shirt from a store called "A Pea in a Pod," Comfortable white tennis shoes, light gray sweatpants with an extremely stretchy waistband, and a well-used black and brown purse.

She sighed and began getting dressed. She was almost finished by the time Sarah got back.

"Oh! Looks like your ready to go home. My shift doesn't end for another two hours if all goes well so I'll have to ask a friend to take you to the apartment. I prepared dinner this morning. It's not fish this time..."

Good. Fish was extremely good for the body and many doctors said that the Omega 3 acids in most fish helped with brain development in fetuses. But it seemed to Leyane that Sarah was taking the whole 'fish is good for you' thing a little too seriously. For close to a month she'd insisted on having one meal a day that had fish in it.

Her expression must have shown what she was thinking because Sarah laughed in that wonderfully musical way of hers.

"I know you are really starting to not like fish but it's good for your body and your heart. Don't make that face. It's either eating fish or taking those Omega 3 tablets and I know you don't like those."

Too true! Those tablets tasted like chalk as soon as they touched Leyanes tongue and if she didn't swallow in time the taste worsened to that of Tylenol. So perhaps the sautéed fish weren't all that bad but given the choice she'd gladly take option Number Three.

Again Sarah laughed at the expression of distaste on her friends face. If you had to describe the laugh as an instrument then Sarah sounded like the chimes. Light and airy but with a definite feeling of beauty.

"No tonight we're having Beef Stroganoff, it's in the fridge. I may have added a bit too much Sherry and fennel..."

Leyane smiled brightly. Until she'd come to live with Sarah the young doctor and lived off of cold sandwiches and room temperature sodas. She put a quick end to that and expanded the meals to include Asian, Italian and even some Arabic cuisine.

"Hey! Don't you dare laugh! I'm still learning to cook! You know one of these days I'm going to make something right the first time."

Both women laughed and left the room. A few minutes later a kid with distinctly mousy features from the way he constantly looked every where to the color of his hair scurried into the room. He hopped up onto a chair and rummaged behind a glass jar containing sterile cotton balls and swabs and pulled out a small tape recorder.

He smiled and held it to his face where his small black eyes could easily identify the buttons. He thumbed the rewind button for a few moments followed by the play button.

"musical laughter Oh! It looks like you're ready to go home. My shi-"

the Kid frowned, this wasn't what he was sent to find. He thumbed the rewind button again, longer this time, followed by the play button. The sound of running water was heard faintly on the tape barely distinguishable from the static that permeated the recording.

The kid snarled, revealing small, yellowed teeth and held the rewind button until he got to the beginning of the tape. The little machine clicked and whirred once the tape was fully rewound and for the third time he pushed the play button.

"Okay Leyane. I need you to put this gown on before I can get started..."

"Will it hurt? I don't want to hurt my child."

"Trust me. This won't hurt a bit. Just make sure not to pee all over the bed..."

The mousy boy stabbed the pause button and jerked his head towards the door. Someone was walking down the hall outside and he didn't want to be interrupted or discovered. He scurried to the door and locked if from the inside.

If this tape had the information he'd been sent to gather he'd be rewarded greatly. Not in freedom or tangible possessions, those were no good for a mutant freak, but in fresh food which was something far more valuable for someone like him.

He leaned against the door and gently pressed the fast forward button, followed by play. He needed to be sure that this is what he was looking for! The conversation played through exactly as it had in real life. The boy listened intently and smiled.

"Two? Two heartbeats! Twins! I'm having twins!" A brief pause. "What's that?"

"That would be the answer to your gender question. You're going to have a pair of boys."

The kid smiled and unlocked the door. That was the information he was sent to get! He'd spent all day hiding in a janitor's closet after placing the tape recorder and he was eager to get back to a more familiar environment.

The tangy stench of human sweat filled his nostrils it was worse than the stink that surrounded the Erasers. The hallway was quiet and he scurried out and wended his way through the maze of halls back to the way he'd entered like the rodent who's DNA he shared.

The sunlight outside made him blink frequently and his eyes water as he crashed through thorny bushes and across streets for an abandoned car lot six city blocks away. His chest was heaving by the time he rounded a corner and a black van surrounded by insanely good looking young men came into view. The kid threw himself on the ground at one of the Erasers feet and waited to be snatched up. It was best not to struggle or they'd rip you to pieces, literally.

"Hey lookie here, our little rat is back. Hello rat, don't you want to play cat and mouse? Maybe later when you've become useless."

He was a mouse not a rat! The little kid trembled and whimpered frantic little nothings in an attempt to keep his skin.

"What's the commotion about?"

William Yaker walked around the van and put his cigarette out against the palm of his left hand.

"Your little pet is back," one of the erasers growled.

"Mickey? You've brought me good news I hope."

Mickey was the name Yaker had given this particular experiment. He only named the useful ones and they cherished that slight show of kindness, to have a name was to be treated slightly better than those without.

Mickey scurried towards the older man and pushed the tape recorder into his hands.

"Yes, yes! Good Mickey always does good work, always gets the boss nice things. Boss wants to know what big woman and little nurse say, and Mickey gets it. Always does a good job. Good Mickey never lets you down, never."

While Mickey babbled incessantly about how good he was as Yaker rewound the tape and motioned for the Erasers to get in the van.

"What about the rat? I'm just itching to see how fast it is."

Mickey squeaked and threw himself against Yaker's legs like a dog that had just been disciplined by its master.

"There's a cage in the back."

Yaker didn't take his eyes from the little tape machine as he opened the passenger door and got in. Mickey looked from his boss to the Erasers and back before making a frenzied dash into the van and into his cage. He didn't even wait for them to lock him in. Mickey reached for the door and slammed it shut from the inside. At least in this cage he was a little safer from his tormentors.

Once all the erasers had gotten in and closed the doors the Alpha Eraser, or pack leader, turned on the van and got it rolling smoothly down the streets towards the Institute. The only sounds in the van were the occasional sniffs and squeaks from Mickey and the tape recorder faithfully replaying the conversation between Sarah and Leyane. When Yaker got to the part about twins and gender he smiled.

"So our little Leyane is going to have twins? This is good news Mickey; you've out done yourself this time. I think some fresh alfalfa and perhaps a bath are in order."

Mickey nearly soiled his pants with joy. Fresh alfalfa! He'd only ever had that once, and then only because a white coat had dropped a sandwich in front of his cage. And a shower! He hadn't had one of those in ages! Boss was really happy to treat him so well!


	6. Storm Brewing

A Maximum Ride multi crossover fanfic  
Twin Terror Luke Ryo written by Geia  
Chapter 6- Storm Brewing

--

Yaker was in his office in the pre-dawn hours of the morning with a hand typed report in front of him. He'd spent the better part of the past four days reviewing and re-writing it until he was at last satisfied with its' quality and tone. He could have let his Secretary manage the report for him but there was something about doing it yourself that improved ones mood and boosted your self-confidence.

Just the night before he'd finally faxed the thing to The Director in Germany only to get a curt reply via E-mail ten minutes later "Teleconference. Five am tomorrow morning. You're time."

Yaker sighed and took another swig from his mug of black coffee. It was a two hour drive from his rented apartment in Wisconsin to the small office building in downtown Chicago, Illinois and while he didn't know the Director personally he had a vague feeling that the person was a bit peeved to set such an outrageous time for a phone call given the difference in time zones.

Another mouthful of coffee, another exhausted glance at the cream colored phone on the desk. What was so important that the director dragged him out of bed for? To make things worse the "benign" bone-spur in his foot was beginning to dig into one or both of the tendons that crossed the ankle and was threatening to send him to a real hospital.

The phone rang and jolted the man out of a light doze. After a moments confusion about why he was at his office and not at home in bed with the comforting sounds of the Air purifier he snatched at the phone with a yawn instead palmed the speaker-phone button. Well, less effort on his end this way...

"Hello. Am I correct in assuming that this is the Director?"

--

A white 1996 Subaru LX rolled down the street passing BioTech with Sarah behind the wheel. About four months ago she had finally gotten around to taking the driving tests and found a used car she liked. It was so much easier to get to and from work with her own mode of transportation, not to mention getting Leyane around was much easier in a car than having to get her on a bus. On the plus side Subaru's had great with mileage and somehow this gently used little car felt like her childhood home.

Sarah smiled faintly and pulled up the driveway of the five story building. It looked like Bill would need this coffee more than she did if he was starting work this early.

--

After exchanging the obligatory pleasantries and lightly veiled barbs the Director, who was apparently a woman, got to business. Her sharp voice resounded around the little room and if Bill closed his eyes he could almost imagine a rather severe looking woman standing in front of the desk.

"I've been reviewing your report and I must say I'm impressed that someone with such a limited background in genetics can pull off such a unique and potentially troublesome recombinant... And have it survive for so long!"

The directors' voice dripped with barely veiled contempt and anger which dripped off the last sentence like concentrated acid.

Yaker blinked and thought that one over. Why wouldn't the specimens survive? It wasn't as if twins were all that rare anymore, not with everyone and their grandmother going to artificial insemination clinics across the country. He wasn't given the time to ponder further because the Director started talking once more.

"But there is one thing that concerns me is that as a former-what would you call it there? Serviceman?-I see no where in your report, wordy as it is, and nonetheless informative, that you instilled the most important trait into the specimens. It's a mistake that could potentially cost you your life in this game."

Yaker rifled through the report on his desk noisy, he was a bit more awake and that last little remark brought his sleepy world into sharp focus. What could he have forgotten? From his rather limited understanding about DNA he'd done everything right! The specimens had survived and were entering the third Trimester!

--

Sarah swiped her security card and let herself in the back entrance. Yaker's office was on the third floor, room 347.

Sarah walked down the dimly lit hallway toward the stairs and up the two floors to her friends' office. She'd managed to catch some Z's after the Graveyard shift and was on her way to the gym for some early morning exercise when she noticed his office light on on her way past BioTech building. Well she had some time to kill before starting her next shift and water was better for a workout anyway, and she did have this extra cup of coffee from Starbucks.

Up two flights of stairs, left to the adolescent clinic, right at the plastic tree...

--

The Directors voice was filled of smugness as she reveled in the discomfort this man on the phone must be in. She'd chosen a time that forced him to inconvenience himself for her. His money contribution was considerable and with that influence he'd pushed a private project into her lap. The Outbound Project.

The project seemed harmless enough to the untrained eye and looked good on paper, but that's where it stopped. The Outbound Project would allow recumbent specimens to be raised by their mothers under constant supervision until an undetermined time later when the experiment would be gathered up and studied.

This presented some difficulty from Maternal Instincts and psychological damage to the experiment from the sudden change in environment.

--

Sarah stopped with her hand on the doorknob. There wee raised voices in the room, she couldn't quite make it out but maybe if she pressed her ear against the door...?

--

"Can't figure it out? No need to answer that I'll tell you. The most important part of ANY recombinant is the expiration date. We of Itex are working to make a better, perfect world and the experiments of right now are only stepping stones for that goal. There are none among them that achieve the perfection I seek though some come close. Your little attempt at being God could potentially live as long if not longer than any of us! By all rights those things should be destroyed!"

The Director was rewarded by garbled excuses and the sound of gagging. Her statement had hit its mark as usual! All she had to do was tug on the leash a bit more and She'd be able to not only snatch this mans career from beneath his feet but also mark him as a disgrace! And like that other geneticist he'd be locked away for crimes against nature by experimenting on humans it would all work out nicely if she could just control him...

"HOWEVER! I do believe that this can be fixed and used to my advantage. The research group in Death Valley is currently working on a commission to create a flock of six with a very specific task in mind. Your little pair will be used as the control group. Allowed certain freedoms, no more than the others, and put through the same tasks."

Yaker held his breath and waited for the other shoe to drop. These two children of Leyanes were the key to his debut into the scientific world of genetics! First the Director wanted them destroyed and then she says she wants them kept alive. Goddammit woman MAKE UP YOUR MIND!!

"I'm sure you can have the mother 'lose' the specimens. It would be most unfortunate if I had to terminate them prematurely due to an unforeseen 'accident'. Their DNA profile looks so promising too..."

--

Sarah jerked away from the door with a hand over her mouth and her eyes wide. She couldn't explain it but somehow she KNEW Bill and some woman she'd never heard before were talking about Leyane! Her friend was in danger of losing her sons to some psychotic organization that toyed with people's genes!

And the worst part is that she'd deluded herself into helping them! Sarah clutched the Styrofoam cup to her chest as she ran from the closed office door. How could anyone be so conceited! To mess with things Humankind was not meant to mess with and to treat the creation as a THING!

--

Yaker rubbed eyes and looked out the window.

"Yes. First time mothers usually have complications..."

Yaker waited to see what the director would say. With luck he'd be able to push his Outbound Project forward regardless of this setback.

"I'll be sending a team over to remedy your oversight. Some minor changes can be made soon after the specimens are both born and if they survive I'm sure Itex can learn a great deal from them. After all, not everyone can combine the DNA of three different birds into a human embryo and create a stable test subject."

"If? What do you mean 'if' they survive? Why wouldn't they?"

Anger colored the Directors voice as she practically screeched at the poor man.

"IDIOT! Recombinant embryos aren't meant to split! Of the six that were recorded half dissolved before reaching the early stages of development! The three that made it to the six month mark only two were born alive! One set had malformed brains and died a mere week after delivery and the last pair simply faded. What makes you think that your little pair will have any better results? Even if the ratio for both will be more avian than other recombines the chances of them living a year are zero!"

--

Sarah drove erratically down the street and guided the vehicle towards home. Thoughts pounded the inside of her skull in rhythm with her heartbeat and adrenaline turned made her skin crawl and her hands shake on the wheel. If not for the leather steering wheel cover her sweaty palms would have surely slipped and sent the young woman into a poll or another car.

She couldn't think, couldn't concentrate. Leyane was in danger! Her best friend was in danger of losing the one thing that kept her going after her accident! She pulled into a parking lot and swerved into a spot and trembled. All the times she'd thought something strange was going on and she never knew the truth!

Whoever said: Ignorance is bliss, was right! She didn't want to know the truth; it was driving her up a wall! And what would she tell Leyane? She had to say something, but what??


	7. Amber Dawn

A Maximum Ride multi crossover fanfic  
Twin Terror Luke Ryo written by Geia  
Chapter six-Amber Dawn

--

Three hours later Sarah was pulling into her parking spot as Saint Judes hospital. Her knuckles were white from gripping the steering wheel tightly enough to keep her arms from shaking. For the past two hours she'd been parked in front of a fast food place going over her dealings with BioTech in horror. Everything she'd done for Bill, no, Dr. Yaker. She'd been an unwitting accomplice to his schemes for YEARS!

Sarah pulled up until she felt the front wheels bump against the cement block and pulled the emergency brake since the parking lot had a slight downward slope towards the hospital.

Still strapped into the driver seat, Sarah flipped down the sunshade and looked at herself in the lit mirror. She was a rather pretty woman, the kind you'd see in lingerie magazines. She played with her hair for a moment, took a can of hair spray and sprayed her hair to keep it from falling into her face, and stepped out of the car. Her legs were shaking so badly she had to hang onto the door until she could trust herself to not fall flat on her face.

She closed the car door and thumbed the 'arm;' button on her car remote. A cute little beep accompanied the flash of the headlights and satisfied with her primping, Sarah walked into the hospital.

On most days she served under Marcus Wright in the maternity Ward for new mothers but on busy days she also doubled with Ryan Hobbs in the emergency room as a surgeon technician. That's how she'd met with Leyane.

Sarah went through the morning routine of clocking in, greeting her colleges, and sipping coffee from the break room. She almost felt normal though she flicked her hair over her shoulders more than once and brushed her bangs fro her eyes.

It was eight in seven in the morning and it was one of the slowest times in the maternity ward of the day. Aside from the graveyard shifts she'd volunteered for earlier that week. More polite smiles, meaningless banter and greetings were passed to Sarah's closest work friends until Sarah realized that her little cup of coffee had been empty for at least a few minutes. How had she not noticed that?

She walked past the Ultrasound room and cringed inwardly. Yaker and that cold sounding woman had talked about recombinants, whatever those were. How would Leyane, or even Sarah, know what had been done to those babies? When would it be visible? How would the twins be different? How could Leyane keep them safe from whatever fate she had sent them into??

These thoughts rustled through the little Asian-derived doctors' mind like dry autumn leaves caught in a small wind tornado in a school yard. The empty cup found its way to a trash can and Leyane's body was on Autopilot until Marcus waved his hand in front of his favorite assistant's face.

"Earth to Sarah? Halloooooo? Are we asleep today?"

Sarah flinched back and stared at her boss. He was an older man, bald with kind brown eyes behind drill mounted glasses and a rather prominent nose. Marcus had been the first to offer a permanent position during her internship and seeing how he made his patients smile despite their worries or woes gave her the burning desire to walk in his footsteps, and so she had for the last six years.

Now his eyebrows were almost white and the scraggly beard on his chin was a slightly darker shade of gray. Coupled with the smile lines and wrinkles around his eyes from years of smiling and bright sunlight made him the perfect mentor for any prospective doctor.

"Huh?" Sarah stopped. Now what had she been doing?

Marcus's smiled faltered a fraction on the right side. He'd known Sarah long enough to see when she was heavily distracted.

"Sarah. I've been trying to get your attention for a minute. What's wrong? You're acting as though you've either seen a ghost or are suffering from a severe blood-sugar deficiency and I'd rather not have to care for one of my associates as a patient."

Sarah blushed furiously from her face right down to her chest. Was it that obvious?

Marcus took his glasses off and tucked a folded arm into the picket of his white coat.

"Sarah, what's wrong? You've been playing with your hair and if my old eyes aren't deceiving me you're wearing makeup and what appears to be hair gel. You know the dress code."

She did. If she got called to help with surgery she would have to wash everything off to keep the room sterile.

"I'll go wash it of then. Excuse me Dr. Wright"

She tried to slip past the middle-aged man with a crowd of interns but was caught in a firm grip by the elbow.

"I'd like to see you in my office Dr. Turner. Now..."

The knot of tension in Sarah's stomach got even tighter and with it came a wave of nausea. Was this about all those babies she'd managed to smuggle to BioTech?

Marcus pushed the door to his office and closed it after Sarah. The silence assaulted her ears like an ax murderer and only added to the dread already making its home in her stomach and intestines.

Marcus leaned against his desk and looked at his young friend with concern.

"Sarah... I think you should take a few days off at the very least."

Sarah stared at him blankly

"What?"

"Sarah, you've been puling double shifts for weeks now and given your daily routine and the holidays coming up I'm afraid you'll burn out when I need you most. I've seen it before with the interns. They try so hard to be perfect at every task. They put in all their effort, take their friends shifts when the can, and spend their extra time studying whatever it is they're interested in. Over half of the interns crash in the first month from that. And we lose more the later it gets with their internship."

Marcus paused and stood up.

"When these young kids crash they go home, lick their emotional or sometimes physical wounds and get on with their lives. Doctors like us, the elite, can't afford to crash on the job. And you only wear makeup and style your hair to distract yourself. Now you go home right away and call me when you get there."

Sarah blinked and let her mouth drop open while Marcus stepped next to her and held her hands in his calloused ones.

"I want you to use some of your vacation time. And I'd rather you accepted my advice as a friend, not as your boss."

Sarah looked into Marcus' soft, brown eyes and looked away. She was privately ashamed of being compared to an intern.

"Now I want you to walk to the front desk, clock out and tell them you're taking a week off. I don't want to see you back here before then you hear me Sarah?"

Sarah smiled slightly.

"Doctors orders?"

"Only if my patient refuses."

Sarah sighed. There was no winning this discussion.

--

Thirty minutes of outer New York traffic later found Sarah on a small four lane roadway to her house in Saratoga Springs when she had to pull over or risk running herself and maybe someone else off the road because her hands wee trembling again.

She buried her face in her hands as all the thoughts from the morning came crashing down on her like an ocean wave.

She'd convinced herself that by handing these unwanted children over to BioTech that she was helping them to have better lives.

That crack-whore who'd been raped by a rival pimp. A woman with mental health issues. A teenage girl who had believed the myth of not getting pregnant on the first time... They'd all been altered somehow and like plants had a preset limit to how long or successful they could become before self-destructing, an expiration date. And once Leyane had her babies they'd be taken from her like all those others had been.

Then on the horizon of her mind a glimmer of hope took form and shed light over her barren feelings. What if BioTech never got them, never knew where they were? What if Leyane and her two sons just disappeared from the face of the earth to live their lives in peace like a normal family no matter what had been done to the kids?

A smile crept onto Sarah's face as she pulled back onto the road and in the back of her mind all the assumed guilt and responsibility that had been making her feel sick to her stomach went away. She couldn't change the past but she could alter Leyane's future for the better now that she knew better! Well now that she was on mandatory vacation she could plan how to help Leyane and her newborns-to-be disappear.

Various plans filled her mind. One thing was for sure, the timing was important. And after that she'd have to see to Leyane's funding. Even with an account she and her husband had shared while dating a defense attorney's paycheck would run dry. But maybe a successful doctors pay with the Lawyers could keep Leyane going for years!

She had maybe a month to work out the details and get information from Dr. Yaker. If she had to she'd disappear with Leyane.


	8. Glimmer of Hope

A Maximum Ride multi crossover fanfic  
Twin Terror Luke Ryo written by Geia  
Chapter 8-Glimmer of Hope

--

It was late afternoon and the chill of winter was just starting to set in. Already there had been early frosts on the lawns and the air was getting colder everyday as Chicago prepared to shovel its driveways and roads. Jack Frost was just starting to make his presence known in Northern America.

Outside a tall formal looking building a familiar Subaru was parked and two women walked up toward the National Credit Union of America. It was here that the first few steps of Sarah's plan would take place. The young doctor didn't dare write or tell anyone her plan, she didn't dare leave any evidence of what she intended to do. All she could do was lay in bed every night before she went to sleep and go over everything that had to be done and work out any snags.

The same day that Sarah had taken her enforced vacation she'd looked up BioTech on the Internet to see just what they did and uncovered a rather astonishing piece of information. In the bottom corner of the web page was the Itex logo. The same that was everywhere in the Hospital, in daily life, and really everywhere once she thought about it.

It even seemed to have branches that spread around the world like some grotesque tree that sucked the life out of anything it touched. And now one seemed to have noticed this... not even in America where small businesses were eager to tear mega corporations apart for profit so that their companies would have a fighting chance.

Inside the credit union it was warm and designed to help the patrons feel welcomed. A small waiting area with the standard Lego's for the kids had been walled of with couches and plastic plants where parents could let their children have fun while the finances were taken care of.

The heavily pregnant Leyane waddled with her young friend towards a row of cubicles along a wall on the far side for the all-important task of merging their accounts into one joint account.

Leyane quietly huffed at her swollen stomach and looked at Sarah. Sarah had changed recently. Sarah went from brooding silence when she thought she was alone to a more bright and happy than normal whenever Leyane made her presence known. It was really strange. Sarah even started gazing at her room mate with deep sadness and regret, as though she felt guilty about something.

"I'm not sure I want to do this. You worked so hard to earn your money... I'm not sure I coul-"

Sarah stopped, turned to face the soon-to-be mother and gently rested a finger on the redheads lips. The former made a shushing sound while the latter stared in surprise at her friend.

"Yes you can Annie. I've seen single moms try to scrape by on their own salary. It looks really hard even with help from WIC, and with twins Believe me you'll thank me for this later."

Sarah smiled smugly and led the way to the cubicles and looked in on a Mr. Warner. The man wore a charcoal gray pinstripe suit with a powder blue shirt and a silk tie. The tie in question has slashes of forest green, burgundy and burnished gold and rested against the outside of the accountants' suit. The whole outfit said 'successful businessman'.

"Hello? I was told over the phone that you were the one to talk to about combining two existing accounts?"

Mr. Warner, A handsome man of Asian decent looked up from his computer screen and looked at the two women before him. The one who had spoken was wearing thick pants, perhaps two layers with the sweatpants on the outside, and a gray peppercorn sweatshirt with UCNY across the front in gold arching letters. And at her side was an off brand of a Coach purse made of light summer material.

The other woman had Red hair that stopped at the middle of her back and wore a thick sweater designed for pregnant women with equally thick pants that covered black socks and beat up leather working shoes. If he judged correctly the redhead would be giving birth soon, but it was an unspoken rule in society never to ask or guess at pregnancy even when' it's obvious.

He turned away from his computer and laced his fingers together on top of his desk to show that the whole of his attention was on the two ladies. And despite the radiant beauty of the younger Woman he must remember to stay professional and not be swayed by their silky words. After all one more misstep and it would be the end of his career here.

"Yes that is correct. Do both of you have your accounts with the National Credit Union? That will make the paperwork much easier for all of us."

Leyane noted that the man's voice had a curious accent. Not from anywhere nearby, not like people from New York either. Leyane wouldn't have noticed it if the man hadn't said 'both' something about the way he said the B...

Sarah smiled brightly and held up two envelopes.

"Yes we do! Quite A coincidence too if you think about it."

The man gestured for his two clients to sit down in the black faux leather chairs in front of the desk and took out some pamphlets advertising all the Joint accounts that the Credit Union offered.

Sarah plopped down in a chair and rested her arms easily on the wood armrests while Leyane waddled around to her chair and slowly lowered herself into it with a heart felt sigh of relief. One of the two little boys in her belly was stretching.

The blue eyed woman let her eyes close partway as Sarah and Mr. Warner got down to the business of picking the right joint account. Account information was passed to the Black haired accountant and the pros and cons of this and that different type of account drifted by Leyanes' ears like the buzz of bees in the spring. Her husband had talked of his work too but he always tried to make it understandable.

Time seemed to drag on as Sarah and Mr. Warner exchanged opinions and questions and all the while Leyanes' two sons were moving. It felt strange and wonderful at the same time to know that within her body were two young lives just waiting to see the world around them.

"Mrs. Ryo? I just need your signature to authorize the change of account. You'll receive an official letter in the mail within five business days verifying your information."

Just then the more active of the twins kicked at Leyanes' ribs and she clutched at the chair in pain. Oh would she ever glad when she gave birth! She snatched the pen and quickly scrawled her name where the accountant pointed and stood up. There was one thing she wanted now... something cold to put against the tummy to make those little toes release her ribs.

Sarah watched as her friend got up and waddled back to the car. There was one last thing she had to ask.

"You mentioned that this kind of joint account can still be used if one of the signers died? How does that work out?"

The Asian looked levelly at the gorgeous Indian woman before him and sighed.

"For the survivor to still use the account they'd need an official Death certificate from the hospital..."

Sarah nodded and thanked the Accountant for all his help. That was just what she wanted to know. Every night she'd tossed and turned over how to help Annie best. And deep in her soul she knew that just getting Leyane away wasn't going to sponge away the many sins of giving babies to that evil corporation Itex! Now she could help this woman escape the clutches of BioTech and live a long life.

--

Somewhere in New York, a family of blond haired, blue eyed people looked down on their comatose child with disgust. This... thing born of their flesh had black hair, pale skin and was not beautiful. They'd given one of their best names to this mistake and it refused to die.

The Father scowled at this little freak, this one year old pile of flesh and bone stuck through with tubes and wires to keep it alive, and shuddered. This things name had been given to it before he could okay the decision and the little wristband taunted him with the black haired baby's name. Amilia Elizabeth Alexandria Menstan, the name that should have been given to his future daughter.

The next child, he was determined that it would be a girl, would be the most beautiful, most talented, and most intelligent of all the Menstans. His next daughter, her name would be Mia, and she would outshine their hopes for this disgusting thing before them.

Johns blue eyes filled with fury and he pounded on the little clear plastic box his unwanted child was in. He almost felt angry enough to tear this entire room apart!

"You filthy creature why won't you just die! Can't you leave this family alone and go back where you came from?"

John glared at the still figure as if his gaze would make the heart monitor stop beeping. If he had seen the shifting colors if Amilia's eyes he would have pulled the plug right then and to hell with the consequences.


	9. Shady Deal

A Maximum Ride multi crossover fanfic  
Twin Terror Luke Ryo written by Geia  
Chapter 9-Shady Deal

--

Much revitalized and energetic from her break from work Sarah walked through the front doors of St Judes and waved at her work associates and smiled brightly as though nothing had happened. But then she had a reason to smile. Fate had provided her with an excellent chance to get the largest part of her plan to save Layne from Itex.

But her return to work was bitter sweet. she'd done all she could to get her plans for Layne's escape rolling but always came up short when it came to smuggling the mother and newborns out from under Bio Techs' nose. She just couldn't wrap her head around a good way to make them all just disappear like smoke after a fire... At least not in Chicago at any rate.

Saran flipped her hair behind an ear as she put her microwaveable lunch in the fridge for later. The white door closed soundlessly and the doctor stood up just in time to see Marcus Wright enter the room with a clipboard in one hand and a cup of Seattle's Best in the other.

"Back I see! So. How did it go?"

Marcus smiled and sat down at the table in the middle of the room and took a sip from the steaming coffee cup and predictably burned his tongue. He fanned his mouth with a hand and snagged a croissant form the tray on the table and took a bite to relieve the unpleasant sensation.

Sarah couldn't help herself, slapstick comedy was supposedly for kids but there was something about watching others hurt themselves in a public setting that just made you feel better about yourself.

Marcus brushed crumbs from his beard and glared at Miss Turner with good natured reproach.

"ha ha... I think I burned a few taste buds... "

Sarah's smile went from ear to ear as she took a pastry for herself. Well everyone in their right mind knew that coffee was typically hot! If you couldn't tell by the steam than then touching the side of the cup should have been a big clue.

"Who knew coffee was steaming hot..."

Marcus glared at Sarah and coughed as a third person, one of the day shift surgeons, walked in for his first break of the day. It was one of the surgeons for the Emergency Room, David Mattlock.

David had pale white skin that burned easily and curly, dark brown hair that framed his thin face and high cheekbones. The man's blue eyes stood out on his face beneath busy eyebrows and seemed to pierce your very soul. But the best part of his face was the Carey Grant thing he had going with his chin and lips. And it was all 100 natural.

"Eat your pastry and bloat Sarah..."

both the surgeon and the assistant chuckled at Marcus' disgruntled comment. They were all family here, such exchanges were actually quite normal among the doctors. Saran took a bite of the flaky pastry and sat down across the table from Dr. Wright with her legs crossed.

The newcomer to the conversation got a cup of coffee from the Drip coffee maker in the staff lounge and took a seat between Saran and Marcus. Sarah had seen him before; he had a thing for her which he hid poorly in a kind of animal cute kind of way.

"Hey Sarah you know there's another conference for surgeons and their assistants down in Miami in a week or so right? I was planning on going this year. I could take you with me if you're interested..."

Marcus took a cautious sip of his coffee. David never was very subtle around women, especially Sarah. It was so obvious that he was looking at her legs and trying to impress her. But that same straight forwardness also made him one of the best surgeons Marcus had had the pleasure of mentoring.

He had a steady hand, rare for newcomers, and refused to sugar coat the details just because surgery was going to be tricky. Not many patients appreciated that kind of brutal honesty but sometimes they needed that opalescent bubble popped about how dangerous complications could be.

Sarah smiled and flipped her hair out of her face.

"You know, I might do that this year. My sister's coming over so she could watch Layne while visiting Mom, she wouldn't have to rent an apartment or hotel room or anything she'd stay at my place. And I've got some family down there anyway..."

Marcus stared with an open mouth at Sarah and waved a hand in front of her face.

"Earth to Sarah are you in there? You're going to a convention with a bunch of stupid old men who hate women entering their field of study and plan on letting them know you're there..."

David looked between the two other doctors as Sarah laughed at the little "in" joke and Marcus' comically stern expression. That had been her excuse the first time she'd qualified to attend one of those exclusive gatherings.

Sarah finished her croissant and looked at David, who looked rather confused.

"So, when would we leave?"

--

Sarah awoke from her dream with a jerk in a run down Chevy with her younger sister and her male escort of the day. It had taken the young doctor two days to find her sister in Miami and even longer to convince her that she needed to see a crime boss. One who wouldn't mind doing a job in Chicago for a reasonable price.

"We're here."

The white and primer colored truck rolled to a stop in front of an unmarked warehouse and the driver pulled a shotgun from the passenger seat. He was wearing dark clothes of the forgettable type and a ball cap pulled down low to hide his eyes. It was almost as if he expected trouble.

Sarah and her younger sister, Diane, got out of the idling truck. The sky was overcast and the chill wind blew Diane's short, short skirt. Everything about Diane screamed for male attention from her poorly dyed red hair to her way to tall high heeled shoes and bare legs. The two women wouldn't have looked anything alike if not for their faces.

Inside the warehouse a group of burly gun toting men waited and the cramp in Sarah's lower back got worse as the danger factor went up. These were honest to god criminals... ones that could kill you without a second thought.

The leader, at least Sarah thought he was by the way the others watched him, stepped around a rusted heap that had once been a car and looked both women up and down. Something about the way he eyed Sarah made her skin want to crawl off and hide somewhere.

"So your the little doctor friend I was told about? You don't look like much, too high society, you'd cringe to get your hands dirty..."

The thugs snickered and Diane clutched her black plastic purse to her chest. She never took men like these on as patrons. Their kind were too rough for her tastes.

Sarah stood tall and tried not to let fear show on her face. Diane had told her this group of criminals was known to be rough, but that they also had morals. The leader for example couldn't stand organ harvesting.

"I've come for help. There's some live cargo I want smuggled out of Chicago in a couple of weeks. Diane said your crews were perfect for the job?"

"He-he. Hey Sleet this chick wants to deal! Not a working girl but with a little help I'm sure she'd make a great bed warmer..."

The rest of the gang guffawed at their companions crude joke and leered at the doctor. Now she was starting to understand why her younger sister was so reluctant to come here.

The boss, Sleet, closed his eyes with a long suffering expression and looked at Sarah.

"You heard right. But it won't be cheap. Price depends on the cargo."

"A woman and her two newborns. She's been tricked by a company that steals babies to sell their organs. I need them taken somewhere safe. It doesn't really matter where."

Sarah hoped she sounded convincing. Lying never was natural to her but it was close enough to the truth to make her conscience grumble at her instead of roar.

A violent twitch started on Sleets face at the mention of the babies being stolen, and it got visibly worse when she mentioned organ harvesting. By the end of Sarah's little speech he was fuming and looked ready to wring someone's neck.

"You are either stupid or very clever to come here with that pile of crap! Fine! I want 2,000 dollars in advance to investigate this. Slick here will go to Chicago with you and if he thinks there's a reason for me to stick my neck out for you and your 'friend' I'll help. You have two days to get me my money or I'll see that you regret wasting my time..."

Sarah swallowed and thanked them for their time. Both she and her sister threw themselves into the waiting truck. The driver needed no urging to get the hell outta there.


	10. Escape in Progress

A Maximum Ride multi crossover fanfic  
Twin Terror Luke Ryo written by Geia  
Chapter 10-Escape in Progress

--

Slick, he insisted on being called Daniel here in Chicago, was a tall man with an athletic build and ebony colored skin. His eyes were deep pools of darkness that were capable of great empathy and deep emotionless cunning. His hands and face were rough from hard work and the thick stubble that grew along his jaw line and under his nose was trimmed meticulously just like his thick eyelashes.

As far as what this hired criminal wore, it was surprisingly normal. Loose fitting shirts and FUBU hoodies seemed to be this mans normal dress along with baggy pants held up with a fraying leather belt and filthy Adidas shoes. The only ornamentation or 'bling' if you preferred that term, Slick wore was Aviator sunglasses and a genuine Rolex watch.

Sarah sat at the card/dining room table nursing her afternoon coffee on a gloomy weekend. The weatherman predicted heavy rains in the evening and it was sure shaping out that way. It was as if the weather was reflecting her black mood. Not even the white painted walls and soft light from the lamps was helping her sheer lack of cheerfulness.

Leyane was going to Planned Parenthood classes about what to expect during and after birth with other first time mothers. It was a great program and one of the other women in Leyane's class lived nearby so both women carpooled the husband.

In the little kitchen Daniel was pouring hot water from a copper-bottomed pan on the stove and into a cream colored mug with a packet of Sweet and Low and a teabag. Steam rose from the boiling water and the aroma of Earl Gray tea drifted through the apartment. Before the guest made his way to his hostess, he stirred his tea and took a deep breath before making the trek through the cluttered living room to the space that was called a dining room;

a beat-up old sofa was shoved into the middle of the room beyond the kitchen and across from a 13 inch TV. Next to the couch were a rickety coffee table and a bookshelf that helped to visually separate the medium sized room into two different spaces. The bookshelf was filled with a great many medical books plus some books by Tom Clancy and a few other prolific authors like Christopher Stashiff, James Patterson and Anne McCaffrey.

News papers, mail, and dirty coffee mugs littered every available wooden surface and the teak veneer wood was warped where hot items had been put on them like pizza boxes and plates.

Four days ago Sarah arrived back in Chicago with Slick and David Mattlock and tried to lay out evidence to prove that the danger to Leyane was real. However the evidence she'd provided had made the dark skinned man skeptical and he refused to accept her words at face value, hence why he was still here. Sarah looked outside without seeing and sighed. She felt backed into a corner as to how to prove that Leyane and her unborn children were in danger and there was only one day, no, eight hours left to prove that the risk of "operating" in Chicago was worth it.

If that wasn't bad enough, Daniel had proved to be to be very skeptical of anything found on the Internet and often disappeared for hours on end to "find some things out" about BioTech. So far he came back with nothing, nothing, and even more nothing! At 2,000 dollars plus the cost of food, and the electricity he used and whatnot it was turning out to be an expensive bunch of nothing.

Slick, as it turned out, was Sleet's best hit-man and his nickname reflected his weapon of choice; a barber's blade sharpened to a glow and kept meticulously cleaned and oiled. She'd only seen him use it once to slit open a Butternut squash she'd been getting ready to cut to make his point. The tough skinned squash had been whole one moment on the cutting board and the next moment the green and yellow fruit had simply fallen apart into two neat pieces with one pass of that deadly blade. The message was quite simple; don't you dare call the authorities or you'll end up like this.

Slick set his tea down on a wood coaster and eased himself into one of the rusting black folding chairs across the little square table from Sarah. It wasn't his business to make her feel better or worse it was just the way the information was turning out that was making her act depressed.

The doctor idly stirred her coffee with the tail end of her pen and rested her chin on her hand. Even criminals had soft spots for pretty women.

"What's going to happen to me if you don't find anything..."

the man took a cautious sip of his tea and looked at Sarah. She was really trying and she really cared about her friend it was a shame to leave her hanging with nothing to hold on to. But if he could find a little more than just concern for the welfare of the unborn then, and only then, would the boss agree to come over. After all Daniel was the best at teasing out the truth and gathering information from hard to reach places in the whole gang, he was also one of the more level headed thinkers too.

Slick sighed across the small table and put his hands, palms up, on the tabletop.

"Give me your hands. I want to see if you're telling the truth."

Sarah stared at Slicks' calloused hands with a mix of suspicion and fear. What was he going to do? How could this convince him that she really needed Leyane smuggled out? Well there was really nothing to loose lose now, except maybe her life...

Sarah put her well toned fore arms in Slicks hands and he turned them palm up with his thumbs pressing against her wrists ever so slightly.

"Now I want you to tell a truth, a lie and a half truth in that order."

Sarah sighed and curled her fingers a bit. Whatever this man was playing at it could very well be her last hope to ward off the promised retribution from Sleet.

"I'm Sarah Turner, Goddess of War, and I'm secretly in love with my best friend..."

"... Are you?"

White hot anger and disgust flared in the doctors chest and she snatched her hands away from the black mans' grasp.

"I am not! She's not that kind of person! Anyway I'd get in trouble..."

The black put his hens up in good natured surrender and chuckled at the lady's reaction. Looked like he'd hit a bit of a sot spot there!

"I figured that... Alright now that I know what to pay attention to, give me your hands again and tell me what made you go looking for sleet in Florida."

Sarah took a deep breath and did as she was told. With Slick as her one and only audience member in her little two bedroom apartment she told the story of how she came to overhear the conversation between Dr. Yaker and that evil sounding woman in the early hours of the day. she told him everything she'd found out since and about Yakers strange behavior even as the grieving widow came begging for help to redeem at least a small amount of happiness from her doomed marriage.

"So you see. I had to lie a little because I couldn't find anything on Itex. I just wanted Leyane to get away. I've condemned so many others... I don't want to die with that festering in my heart..."

Slick nodded and stood up, He'd gotten all he needed to know. The man straightened his posture and stretched. Sarah's tale sounded unbelievable but her pulse said otherwise. The others in his gang had always teased him about being a human lie detector but then again it was quite handy when dealing with questionable 'clients'.

"What are you going to do?"

Slick flashed the flustered woman a blindingly white smile and headed for the phone.

"I'm going to tell Sleet you got a case. He's gonna charge a bit more but you're dealing with professionals. Hope you can afford it."


	11. The Great Escape part 1

Twin Terror Luke Ryo written by Geia  
Chapter 11-The Great Escape part 1

--

Leyane waddled to the bathroom again. her boys had to be tap dancing on her bladder, that or she needed to stop being thirsty all the time... she groaned as she set herself down on the cold porcelain and did what came naturally.

For a few weeks her lower back had simply throbbed like there was no tomorrow and she'd been forced to find a way to alleviate the discomfort without medications. Eastern remedies were working so far but it really wasn't quite enough.

Sarah had told her that whatever she ate her babies had so she'd studiously avoided anything that was considered harmful for children. which in essence meant no alcohol while pregnant, no smoking-thankfully she never liked smoking-, no shell fish or anything with harmful Mercury levels, and more recently no medications because of possible birth defects or unintentional overdoses.

It hadn't mattered in the beginning but now Leyane would give anything for Tylenol or Vikadin to stop the throbbing in her back the heavily pregnant woman groaned and snagged a length of toilet paper to finish her business. One of her sons was a real kicker...

A groaning effort and a towel bar assisted dismount of the white monument of human sanitation later left Leyane wishing that she'd given birth already. The cramps in her lower spine were awful and her swollen bosom did nothing to fix that particular problem. How did those models walk with such baggage on their fronts? She felt like falling over from the weight of her belly alone.

--

Sarah slept fitfully in her bed. Leyane was due any day now... thankfully there had been so much going on at BioTech that Yaker hadn't checked on Mrs. Ryo's progress. In fact the whole BioTech industry had been flooded with people and a need for more blood for the victims.

Tornadoes had ravaged Tornado Alley from Fort Worth to South Dakota and the evacuees and injured had scattered all over the middle of the US. A minor blessing for a pregnant mother on the run from a gluttonous company but still a tragedy. The deaths were still being tallied up and news reports predicted more tornadoes yet to come.

But maybe she could use that to her advantage. Slick had said that he and a few others in his little "family" had found a midwife for Leyane, one who did a good job and didn't care where the money came from.

Granted the woman was a bit older than she would have liked there was no doubt the ancient woman knew her work. She'd recounted a rather fascinating tale of a woman who refused to go to a hospital because she wanted to see the snow on Christmas day. The story was very graphic and ended with how the mother had bitten through a wooden spoon.

she could well imagine the pain of the mother, and how hard if must have been to squeeze the eight pound baby out without any kind of medical support or weak pain killers.

Sarah twisted in her sheets again and stared at the dimly lit wall. She could hear Leyane shuffling back to her bed. Her belly was so big it looked like just touching her would make her sons just pop out.

The door to the heavily pregnant woman's room creaked nearly shut and an airy groan let the doctor know that Annie was trying to get more sleep. Mother Hood seemed rough for single moms. Sarah never wanted to have kids if she wasn't at all sure she wanted to marry the guy!

But, maybe, just maybe Leyane would make it. After all she had a strong will and a fierce spirit to go with it. Qualities Sarah would give anything to have for herself. but for now she had to wait. the appointment had to be made for the delivery. and Slick had to be notified. it had all been decided days ago. And she really hated the taste of the rice paper he'd written on

--

in a motel across town Slick, and a few other burly men sat tight for the signal from their client to move in and whisk the target off to safety in either Canada or Mexico. They understood that timing was everything. After picking up the pair of women they'd have to start their long trip to Florida by car with heavy pursuit likely from their clients' enemies. The woman's newborns would have to be provided for and new identities made.

The rest of their crew were working to make fake passports for the mother to Mexico and id's complete with false information on family trees and medical files. They were milking a good fat cow for all this work!

"Slick. The dame knows the signal right? I mean we're not just wasting our time here right?"

Richard, or Rick, looked away from his little half finished carving of a dog and squinted at the black man. He was heavily muscled with hair all over his normally tan akin and his hairline almost met with his eyebrows in a nearly permanent glare. Not only that but it looked as though someone had stapled the dude's upper lips to his nose in a perpetual sneer. All in all a rather fierce appearance despite the guys rather sweet disposition.

The greasy white shirt was stretched tight across the squat mans barrel of a chest and filthy pants were stretched nearly to bursting from all the muscle this crook had acquired over the years. Dirt covered the old Timberland Boots leaving only the faint hint of black leather and silvery buckles visible to the naked eye.

Slick looked over at the mountain of Muscle and sighed. Rick had no neck and was severely near sighted. Not the best choice for this operation but he was rather good with his hands. When work was scarce he managed to scrape by with his wood carvings which could be quite intricate when he tried.

"Yes I'm sure she knows after all she called us."

Rick grunted and bent over his little carving again. It was slow work working the soaked wood figurine, it was delicate work giving the dog realistic fur but it was worth it. Every penny this would bring would go to his little sister. After all if she wanted a good life she needed money. His little Kelsey was too good for the streets or drugs.

--

Leyane lay on her back and closed her eyes, willing blissful sleep to come. It was nearly two in the morning, according to her digital clock. Her eye lids felt so terribly heavy and her eyes simply burned from lack of sleep. He whole body seemed to have left her behind with nothing but a vague sensation of weight to mark its' absence. This was awful.

When oh when the hell would she get this over with? Of course she could opt to be cut open and to have her sons surgically removed but she so dearly wanted to do this naturally!

So late... she needed to sleep. Not sleeping wasn't going to help herself or her sons... so... tired... maybe if she just closed her eyes for a moment or two...

and as Leyane drifted into fitful sleep as the first contraction of many rippled down her body.


	12. The Great Escape part 2

Twin Terror Luke Ryo written by Geia Akyama  
Chapter 12-The Great Escape part 2

--

Leyane waddled out the apartment door on swollen feet. Eight months carrying these two precious lives and now she was more than ready to get them out. Of course she could have set an appointment and gotten her boys birthed through surgery but as a new mother she wanted to do everything the natural way.

It was six in the morning and even the smallest of things like brushing her teeth to be rid of morning breath seemed to make her weary. She sucked a breath in and grimaced as a massive cramp, or maybe a small contraction, rippled across her heavily swollen abdomen.

The red head dropped her purple tooth brush in the sink and grabbed the porcelain sink in both hands. Surprise and dim discomfort took her breath away as her body seemed to have a mind of its own.

"Oh... It's. It's happening! SARAH IT'S GONNA BE TODAY!"

"What? Today??"

A strangely satisfying crash foretold Sarah's frenzied race to her dear friends' side and the tinkle of broken glass served as a messenger of the reckless dash through the living room. Heavy footsteps pounded the thin carpeting in the hallway as the barefoot doctor slid to s stop and bounced off the bathroom door frame with a resounding whack.

"What you had a contraction? How bad was it when was the last one."

Sarah's chest was heaving from her frantic exertion and hair kept poking her in the eyes and sticking to the inside of her mouth. The olive skinned woman used the fingers of her left hand to brush the errant strands from her mouth and eyes and leaned against the door to the bathroom.

"And more importantly how long have you been having them?"

Sarah watched as the mother-to-be shifted her weight from one swollen foot to the other. Without a point of reference there was no telling when Mrs. Ryo would go into labor. Or how long the contractions would last until her water broke. Not even the best doctors in the world could foretell how long it would take for a woman to finish giving birth, each time it was a little different.

"I don't know... Since last night?"

Sarah's jaw dropped to the floor and she was hard pressed not to shake her dearest friend for keeping that precious bit of information to herself. What if she'd gone into labor last night?? What if Itex was somehow tracking Leyane? What if...

"They're not that bad really. I've had colds that made me feel worse..."

Sarah shook her head vehemently to clear it of all the worst case scenarios that might or could happen and scrabbled for the threads of her carefully laid plan. Slick had to be told. Excuses had to be made. And she'd have to get her hands on a blank death certificate somehow if those thugs hadn't done their work properly.

"But you don't know how long it will take you to go into labor. Ugh, go get your bag I'm getting you to a hospital."

Leyane waddled to her room to get her little bag of oddities for the trip to the hospital. Why she carried some of those things was beyond Sarah's reckoning. a hand sized pig made of peppermint candy made in Saratoga Springs, a toy hammer with a red wood handle and a silver spray painted head used to break the peppermint pig to pieces. There was also a picture of her husband and herself back when they were dating in Wright State before perusing their separate careers for a time.

"I have to call work. I'm not going to let you go through this alone Leyane. I just have to let them know I'm taking the next few days off."

Anne mumbled something affirmative from her bedroom while the scheming doctor picked up her cell phone and dialed a number so similar to one on her speed dial and waited in nervous silence while the other phone rang. On her cell phone records and any kind of computerized line tapping it would look like a miss dialed number picked up at a local pizza parlor.

Sarah smiled grimly. This was just what she'd rehearsed months ago. It had to be done correctly and there was only this one chance.

"Hello and thank you for choosing Pizza Hut. My name is Harold May I take your order?"

Adrenaline, fear, and anticipation prickled Miss Turner's skin. This was it! There was no going back now! Slick was on the line posing as someone else for the sake of her plan. And God willing she'd live to see her friends children grow.

"Oh sorry: I was trying to call ahead to Saint Judes hospital. My friend's getting ready to have a baby. Not sure when but I can't leave her alone."

A good natured chuckle nearly made the little Asian woman jump. Slicks voice, harsh as it could be, flowed like water when he laughed.

"Ah sure thing miss you'd be surprised how often we get that here. But if you in a hurry I'd suggest not going anywhere near that particular hospital. Traffics been as finicky as a teenage girl on the night of the Prom. I'd suggest going to that new one near O'Hare."

Sarah apologized profusely and thanked "Harold" for the advice before hanging up to call Saint Judes about taking time off. Her mind mulled over the cryptic message Slick gave her even as her body finished the call.

There would certainly be traffic problems now that she'd pulled the trigger so to speak. And O'Hare was in a well trafficked part of town. Perfect to get lost in and smuggle a mother and her newborns away from danger.


End file.
